Do comparison sites take Atlantic E&G's rebate into account?

LizEstelle

I have been with Atlantic Electricity and Gas for several years and their customer service has been spot on when it comes to phone queries.

I am not so sure about their general competitiveness on price and they try to make this more obscure by giving a one-month loyalty cashback each year.

If I enter my general usage stats into e.g. Uswitch, will the calculation take account of this and not give me a false comparison?

Premier_2

Generally not as it is payable after 12 months, but some now do include this type of discount.

If you click on the specific tariff, you'll be provided with details including any discounts and whether they are included or not in the displayed total.

KimYeovil

(But they are included in tariffs from nPower whose discounts, if anecdotal whinges are reliable, may be paid not until the nineteenth month!!! Pretty inexplicable behaviour.)

Premier_2

Yes, as the suppliers are creating ever more complicated tariffs in their quest for supreme confusion marketing, it's difficult for the comparison sites to know what to do for the best.

I think, some at least, are now attempting to 'simplify' matters by attempting to include all discounts and then saying there are 'early cancellation charges' applicable.
Again, not a strictly true refelection on the situation, but perhaps a good idea.*
However, when such discounts are not specified when they will be paid exactly e.g. is it 19 months? 13 months? 24 months? then you can see the difficult position they are in.


Edit: * a good idea unless you are specifically looking for tariffs without early cancellation charges, in which case you might automatically reject such tariffs.

LizEstelle

I've just been on to Uswitch and they confirm, somewhat sheepishly, that their comparisons do not include loyalty rebates.

My suggestion that they might just mention this as a caveat to users of their main comparison engine went down really well....

KimYeovil

I think in this case it is the regulator Ofgem that is at fault. For some reason an "annual discount" is treated differently from a "loyalty rebate" in their Standards Code.